La Liga End of Season Review

This two parter will look at how all 20 teams got on this season and an end of year rating.

The 24/25 season saw Barca as champions, an era ending at Real Madrid and so much more. Each team will be reviewed in this two part series looking at how the season unfolded.

Alaves

Alaves had a topsy turvy season and the firing of Luis Garcia Plaza threatened to derail their season. Eduardo Coudet came in and took time to turn things around before finishing the season strongly.

Kike Garcia finished the season with an impressive 15 goals but with his departure imminent he will be sorely missed by the Basque side. Star winger Carlos Vicente is also rumoured to be on the move and he has impressed plenty this season.

While this is a review of last season, this summer already feels huge for the side from Vitoria.

After finishing 10th in 23/24 this feels a drop off and while Coudet eventually got things right it’s still questionable whether the decision to remove Garcia Plaza was the right one.

A crumb of comfort is the fans were awarded the inaugural fans of the season in our La Liga awards. If that isn't enough for Alaves fans than the thought of Joaquin Panichelli returning from his loan at Alaves where he has helped power them to the play-offs is a hugely exciting prospect.

Final Position: 15th

Top scorer: Kike Garcia

Star Player: Carlos Vicente

Breakthrough player: Antonio Blanco continued his development in what is quite an aging side.

Best moment: An early season victory at rivals Real Sociedad or their late season victory at home to Valencia.

Worst moment: back to back home defeats against Getafe and Alaves looked like threatening Alaves place in La Liga.

End of season grade: C+, ultimately they’re safe and that is what matters but this season feels like one that could have been better.

Athletic Club

For Athletic Club one out of their two objectives was completed for the season. Ernesto Valverde and his side were aiming for European football and the Europa League final at Sam Memes gave them a chance to create history.

While the Basque outfit not only secured European football they made the Champions League and the riches that has to offer but they fell at the last hurdle on their dream of a Europa League final at Sam Memes with Man Utd ending their dream in brutal fashion.

Athletic Club will rue how emotionally they played that first leg but it shouldn't cloud what's been a brilliant season for Los Leones.

The big question heading into the summer is can they keep hold of Nico Williams and will Hugo Rincon who has spent the season on loan at Mirandes be the man to fill legendary captain Oscar de Marcos boots?

For Athletic Club, somehow keeping Oihan Sancet fit will be key, he was the clubs top scorer despite starting just 50% of their league games due to various injuries through the season.

Final Position: 4th

Top scorer: Oihan Sancet

Star Player: Oihan Sancet

Breakthrough player: Maroan Sannadi was playing third tier football until January and he’s made a big impact with his imposing figure since signing for the Basque club.

Best moment: Any time the Basque giants bloody Real Madrid's nose it's a game to remember and their 2-1 victory over Los Blancos was a great game. Los Leones also demolished Roma in the second leg of their last 16.

Worst moment: So much of their Europa League run felt like destiny until the semi final where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Los Leones will regret that once in a lifetime opportunity to play a major European final at home.

End of season grade: A, The Europa League final hurt but the club is in the Champions League, Basque talent appears to be better than ever and in Valverde they have a underrated but top class coach.

Atletico Madrid

Atleti season felt like a what if season. What if that Julian Alvarez penalty went differently, what if the Copa del Rey semi final saw Atleti put in a second leg performance like they did in the first leg.

Ultimately the key moments didn't go the way of Simeone or his team and it's another season spent behind the big two.

The gap to title winners Barca ended up being twelve points and when Atleti won 8 league games consecutively including away to Barca not many would have expected such a big difference.

They now head to the Club World Cup and this will surely put strain on their small squad. A win though might change how their season is viewed.

Final Position:3rd

Top scorer: Alexander Sorloth

Star Player: Julian Alvarez

Breakthrough player: Any thoughts that Giuliano Simeone was in the squad due to nepotism were blown away after a fantastic season by the winger. He was tireless, energetic and full of creativity.

Best moment: The victory away to Barca looked like Atleti announcing themselves as contenders but it was ultimately a false dawn.

Worst moment: That heartbreaking defeat yet again by eternal rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Grade: B, it wasn't a trophy winning season but they also weren't a million miles off.

Barcelona

Just twelve months ago things felt not quite bleak but a long way off Real Madrid.

Barca finished ten points off Real Madrid and again had to witness their rivals win the Champions League.

This season though they've been a step above winning by four points and in truth it could have been more. Hansi Flick has had a fantastic debut season and has integrated more of the Barca B team into the first team.

They dominated both Clasicos in the league and won a close Copa del Rey final then came so close in a Champions League semi final all timer.

Barca will also benefit from not being involved in the Club World Cup meaning players such as Yamal and Pedri can get rest over the summer.

Final Position: 1st

Top Scorer: Robert Lewandowski

Star player: Lamine Yamal

Breakthrough player: Raphinha, plenty internally and in the media wrote the Brazilian off and boy did he shut the doubters up.

Best moment: The three Clasico victories will live long in the memory of Barca fans.

Worst moment: That dramatic second leg defeat in the Champions League semi finals where the Catalan club got so close.

Grade: A, winning the double was a great end to the season for Hansi Flick and his men and the best feels like it is yet to come.

Celta Vigo

Euro-Celta are back and the Galician team were a breath of fresh air in La Liga. With a core of local players who care about the club and a coach with a clear plan after years of battling down the wrong end Celta had a season to remember.

Claudio Giráldez completed a huge turnaround when they clinched a Europa League spot. Not many teams can say they replaced a Champions League winning coach while in the relegation battle with a B team coach and ended up in European football a little over a year later.

While the celebrations will continue through the summer, one eye now has to turn to the season ahead and needing to add depth to a squad not prepared for the rigours of competing on two fronts. Giráldez did a great job managing Aspas minutes to get the most impact and that will again be key to their success next season.

One area for Celta to focus on is defensively, this season they conceded 57 goals the fourth worst in the league and that could easily become a major problem next season if not addressed.

Final Position: 7th

Top scorer: Borja Iglesias

Best player Iago Aspas

Breakthrough player: Oscar Mingueza, the ex Barca man has been written off plenty of times but he was a key part of this Celta revival and even broke into the national team.

Best moment:: A dominant 3-0 victory over Villarreal showed Celta at their best.

Worst moment: They ran both Real Madrid and Barca close away and lost out to both narrowly despite playing excellent football.

Grade: A, mot many had tipped up Celta for a European challenge so they deserve a big grade for that alone. They also play great football and with real style.

Espanyol

Teams coming up via the play-offs often struggle with such a short turnaround between seasons. When Espanyol lost their first match of the season against Real Valladolid it looked like it was going to be a long hard season again.

While they were in the relegation battle till the final day where they needed victory they also reached 42 points and finished 14th.

Manolo was often rumoured to be on the brink and stability and a plan is something you unfortunately no longer associate with Espanyol.

While survival has now come the next season already looks tough with Joan Garcia potentially making a move across the city and Javi Puados future up in the air.

Final Position: 14th

Top scorer: Javi Puados

Star player: Joan Garcia

Breakthrough player: Roberto

Best moment: Beating Real Madrid 1-0 was a moment Manolo deserved having been under plenty of scrutiny.

Worst moment: The 3-2 defeat to Leganes put Espanyol right back in the relegation dogfight.

Grade: B, forget the name or stature of the club having come up through the play-offs and having found themselves as a yo-yo club in recent seasons, this is a successful season. Espanyol were the only one of the promoted sides to stay up when all is said and done.

Getafe

Another season where the club stayed up with minimal resource going into the playing squad but this could also be the last we see for now of Jose Bordalas.

The popular coach has yet to decide whether to extend his stay in South Madrid and typically when he leaves Getafe struggle.

Despite having a threadbare squad Bordalas got Getafe over the line and another season in La Liga is a huge achievement given the limited resources available to him.

If he does stay more signings will be needed to beef up a paper thin squad.

Final Position: 13th

Top scorer: Mauro Arambarri

Best player: Mauro Arambarri

Breakthrough player: Christantus Uche, the Nigerian came from Primera RFEF for €500k as a defensive midfielder and has spent most of the season as a striker. He will go from strength to strength.

Best moment: Hansi Flick got to experience Bordalas ball at the Coliseum in their 1-1 draw.

Worst moment: A 1-0 defeat to bitter rivals Leganes was a painful defeat to swallow.

Grade: B, while they might be established in La Liga this season was always going to be tricky and to stay up is still an achievement.

Girona

A Champions League season is one that should live long in the memory but it has been a rough campaign for the Catalan side.

Girona have had plenty of pundits put the boot in but this won't be happening here.

The Catalans have spent the most time in their history in the fourth tier so the fact they've experienced the pinnacle of European football is something unbelievable.

This season was always going to be tricky fighting on two fronts, sides having worked them out and key players gone and it ended up being as tough as expected.

They always just about did enough to keep their heads above water but one area to focus on is defensively where they conceded a huge 60 goals.

Now it's about how Michel and Girona regroup and how they come back next season without expectation on them.

Final Position: 16th

Top scorer: Stuani

Best player: Yangel Herrera

Breakthrough player: Miguel Gutierrez

Best moment: Match day one of the Champions League, they almost held PSG to a goalless draw until a late own goal, whatever happened to PSG?

Worst moment: Having tormented Barca the season before a 4-1 loss felt like a return to the norm for both sides.

Grade: C-, European football apart a season to forget for Girona. You have to factor in where this club has come from as well before completely dismissing their season.

Las Palmas

The Canary Islanders had what can only be called a disaster of a season. Hopes were high last summer despite the loss of Head Coach Garcia Pimienta. The club had hired Luis Carrion who nearly took Real Oviedo to promotion and seemed to be on the up in terms of his career arc.

Unfortunately he lasted just nine games and didn’t oversee a single victory. Diego Martinez came in and after a bright start that even saw them defeat Barca away they fell off.

There is certainly quality in this Las Palmas side and the vultures will be circling, they showed on their day with victories against Barca and Atleti they have the quality but the consistency wasn’t there against those around them in the relegation battle.

Final Position: 19th

Top scorer: Fabio Silva

Best player: Alberto Moleiro

Breakthrough player: Fabio Silva, the Portuguese striker showed signs of why he was so highly rated and why Wolves spent so much on him although it’s still hard to see him adjusting to the physicality of the Premier League.

Best moment: A victory at home to Atleti meant it was back to back victories for Pio Pio and they looked to be heading towards safety

Worst moment: The 1-0 defeat to Sevilla in controversial circumstances sealed their fate.

Grade: F, this team should not have been nine points from safety at the end of the season with the quality they had in ranks so this has to go down as a season of failure.

Leganes

Los Pepineros took it to the final day but ultimately despite reaching the mythical 40 point mark it’s a season in Segunda next.

Borja Jimenez had gone from the third tier to La Liga and showed glimpses of being a La Liga level coach but has now left Leganes by mutual consent following their relegation.

Leganes also showed glimpses of being a La Liga side but fell just short, defensive matters were a problem for Lega conceding 59 goals.

The vultures will again be circling a talented squad and players such as Juan Cruz are likely to leave, Dani Raba has already been confirmed at Valencia so expect a big adjustment to the squad as they prepare for life in Segunda.

Final Position: 18th

Top scorer: Dani Raba

Best player: Juan Cruz

Breakthrough player: Yan Diomande, the Ivorian only joined Leganes in January with the aim of being in their B side but it took just three games for them to realise he was good enough for the first team where he’s shown some real promising moments.

Best moment: Another side who beat Barca this season and Atleti and both will live long in the memory of Leganes fans.

Worst moment: Relegation on the final day will have hurt with the club aiming to become established in La Liga.

Grade: D, feels harsh to score them even lower and I have faith they’re not far off establishing themselves as a La Liga team.

Part 2 covering the other 10 La Liga sides will be out later this week.